Yavapai College combatting housing crisis with RV park, tiny homes

CLARKDALE, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) -- If you build it, they will come. That’s the thinking behind the Yavapai College district’s creative idea to attract more employees and students. “Something like this can make a huge difference,” said Dr. Clint Ewell, the VP of Finance and Administration.

The college will be offering tiny homes and an RV park at some of its campuses where an affordable housing shortage is felt. “We’ve noticed that our recruiting pools have been getting smaller, and we believe it’s because of the high cost of living here in Yavapai County. We’re currently at about 20% above the national average,” said Dr. Ewell.

The college is hopeful a 200 sq. ft. houses built by students will attract more people. “We’ve had students telling us that they accepted our program, but then they had to change their mind because they couldn’t find affordable housing,” he said.

They’re aiming to have three tiny homes available for students to rent at the Chino Valley Campus by the 2024 spring semester. Rent will be $700, including utilities. They plan to build three a year if more tiny homes are needed. Dr. Ewell said it takes a group of students one semester to build a house.

Over at the Verde Valley Campus, where there are 75 acres of undeveloped land, a portion of the property will become an RV park. It’s currently under construction but is set to be up and running by the 2023 fall semester. “We’re going to put in 10 pads to begin with. People will be able to either bring in their own, and we’ll actually have four RVs of our own to rent out to employees and to students,” he said.

The RV park will be near the campus vineyard. In addition, Dr. Ewell said there are plans to add a gazebo, park and laundry facility to the area.

The RVs still need to be purchased. “The average home price in Yavapai County is almost a half-million dollars. We’ve then looked at manufactured homes, and we can do that probably for about $200,000, and we can buy an RV for $50,000,” said Dr. Ewell. The rent for faculty or students bringing their own RVs will be about $500 a month.

Dr. Ewell also said the college has been working on printing 3D homes with concrete. They are partnering up with a company in Belgium but are still working on perfecting the product. They hope to have those homes ready for use by next year.

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